Coronavirus: Fourth Broward person diagnosed

Monday

No coronavirus cases reported in Palm Beach County but there are now four in Broward County. The latest reported is a 69-year-old woman. The others are men ages 65, 67 and 75.

Florida’s health department is reporting Tuesday morning that a 69-year-old woman has become fourth person in Broward County to be infected by the coronavirus.

The woman has been isolated and will remain so until she is cleared by public health officials. Authorities say she and two men previously diagnosed in are connectioned to or employed by Metro Cruise Services, a company that operates out of Port Everglades.

The health department is working to contact all of Metro Cruise Services employees to give them information and monitor their health. Meanwhile, it is recommending employees who may have come into contact with the three to self-isolate at home, according to a statement issued Tuesday morning. .

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Few details have been released about the remaining Broward man who also tested positive for the illness known as COVID-19.

Florida health officials reported no cases in Palm Beach County, although on Sunday Palm Beach County leaders announced that a Pennsylvania man who attended a Palm Beach County Convention Center conference Feb. 28 had tested positive with the virus.

The state health department as of Tuesday morning lists 14 Florida residents diagnosed with coronavirus. Five separated cases are listed as repatriated (they are no longer in Florida) and one is listed as a non-Florida resident.

Two Florida residents have died from the virus: a 77-year-old Lee County woman and a 71-year-old Santa Rosa County man.

The report indicates the state has monitored 1,161 people to date, 319 of them are still being monitored. It notes 222 people have tested negative for the illness and 155 results are still pending.

The breakdown by county of the 14 Florida residents diagnosed is as follows: Broward County (4); Volusia (2); Manatee (2); Lee (2); Charlotte (1); Okaloosa (1); Hillsborough (1); Santa Rosa (1). Hillsborough is also home to a second case, the sister of a resident included in the state’s count, who is being cared for in Florida but is a California resident.

State health website urges people to follow CDC guidelines

On Monday morning, the state health departament posted unprecedented advice suggesting anyone who had traveled internationally to isolate themselves for the 14 days after returning to the state. Two hours later it backpedaled.

In a second press release, the department said Americans should simply follow the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines, isolating only if they’ve visited one of the world’s major hotspots of the disease or if they’ve traveled and now have symptoms associated with what is known as COVID-19.

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DeSantis later characterized the first, alarmingly sweeping advice, as a simple misstatement that should have hewn to the CDC recommendations all along.

It was just one mixed message in a sea of many for the public.

The World Health Organization has declined so far to call the coronavirus a pandemic, but on Monday, CNN did.

In Palm Beach County, where no confirmed cases have been reported, public schools announced that it had suspended international school trips for the time being and recommended that students and staff cancel any private field trips overseas.

And the Florida House briefly evacuated its public galleries Monday afternoon after five state lawmakers and a staff member "self-isolated" after attending an event that was attended by someone who later tested positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, West Palm Beach’s International Boat Show, which in the past has drawn an estimated 50,000 visitors, is slated to go on as planned.

Across town, the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts has been paying overtime to its in-house cleaning crew and took the extra step of hiring an outside cleaning firm, Chief Executive Judith Mitchell said. Those workers are wiping down armrests, railings, doorknobs, elevator buttons and other surfaces after performances. The Kravis Center also suspended meet-and-greet events, where fans can hobnob with performers before or after shows.

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"I understand people are scared, and we’re doing as much as we can," Mitchell said.

But at The Breakers, the looming threat of contagion put an end to two events.

Deutsche Bank canceled the in-person portion of its annual gathering for analysts, investors and executives. The event began Monday and was scheduled to continue Tuesday and Wednesday. Meanwhile, Credit Suisse said Monday it has nixed a conference scheduled for Friday through Sunday at the oceanfront resort and was set to include meetings, a golf outing and a fishing excursion.

In his press conference Monday afternoon, DeSantis painted a state that already has 13 cases, including one non-Florida resident, and is bracing for more.

Florida Department of Health’s morning statement inventoried those patients and the progress of testing within the state, including patient ages, home counties and whether he or she had been traveling internationally.

The virus and the disease it causes, also known as COVID-19, originated in China and quickly spread to other parts of the world. More than 105,000 cases of the disease have been reported in more than 100 countries, the World Health Organization reports.

U.S. officials declared the disease a public health emergency in January.

Nationally, 423 cases of the disease have been reported in 34 states and Washington, D.C., according to the CDC. Nineteen people in the United States have died. This number does not include those who were brought back to the states from China and Japan.

The 29-year-old Hillsborough County woman is the youngest of those diagnosed in the state. An 81-year-old Manatee County woman, who also had a history of traveling abroad, is the oldest.

With the exception of the 29-year-old and a Charlotte County woman who is 54, all of the rest are older than 61, a population that the nation’s health officials say is at greater risk of becoming severely ill from the virus.

CDC officials focused Monday on this older population, advising people over 60 to stock up on food, medications and other necessities so they can avoid venturing out into places where they are more likely to be exposed to the virus.

While the over-60 set is at greater risk of getting sick, the risk grows with age, putting people in their 80s or 90s and those with chronic health conditions at the highest risk.

"It's fair to say that as the trajectory of the outbreak continues, many people in the United States will at some point in time, either this year or next, be exposed to this virus, and there's a good chance many will become sick," said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC.

In 2018, roughly 450,000 Palm Beach County residents, about 30 percent, were 60 or older.

Focus also has turned to the young, who may become infected but show little sign of it and then could potentially spread the virus wherever they go.

The Palm Beach County School District announcement, from Superintendent Donald Fennoy, said that school-sponsored field trips within the United States are still permitted but "will be decided on a case-by-case basis."

Fennoy called the possibilities of school operations being affected by an outbreak "remote" but said that the district has a plan in place to ensure that learning continues in such an event.

"District administrators have an infectious disease response plan in place to ensure that learning continues, in the remote chance that our normal operations are disrupted by an outbreak," he wrote.

Fennoy directed parents to the district’s website for more information about coronavirus-related cancelations and other information: palmbeachschools.org/coronavirus.